OLIVIA (1951)
Long underappreciated in the wake of the French New Wave that soon followed, Jacqueline Audry’s adaptation of Dorothy Bussy’s semi-autobiographical novel “Olivia” tells the tale of sapphic desire and its awakening in the halls of a boarding school on the outskirts of Paris. Used to the strict confines of her prior British schooling, Olivia finds herself transformed by her newfound freedom in the French school as she quickly becomes enamored of her teacher Julie, one of the two teachers who the student body are split between worshipping as either “Julists” or “Carists” for those favoring the sickly Cara instead. Unfolding like a Gothic fairytale reminiscent of Hitchcock’s REBECCA and Leontine Sagan’s 1931 MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM, OLIVIA maps the troubled shores of the heart in teenage longing. DIR/PROD Jacqueline Audry; SCR Pierre Laroch, Colette Audry, from the novel by Dorothy Bussy; PROD Jean Paris. France, 1951, b&w, 96 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, June 27, 2025
Genre: Comedy, drama
